Luxury good maker LVMH said its Louis Vuitton brand had ceased all trading with Vietnamese farms which animal rights activist group Peta alleged mistreated crocodiles, whose skins are used to make handbags and other accessories.
“The LVMH group and its suppliers ceased all trading in 2014 with the farms named by Peta,” LVMH said on Friday, adding that it sources its crocodile skins from other Asian suppliers.
Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) said on Thursday it had bought one share in LVMH to enable it to put pressure on the French company to stop selling products made with exotic animal skins.
The animal rights group, which has long campaigned for changes by luxury goods groups, released a film which it said showed poor conditions at farms that have supplied LVMH. It did not name the farms concerned.
This is not the first such campaign by Peta. In 2015 it alleged luxury goods group Hermes was sourcing skins from a crocodile farm in Texas which it also said was not treating the reptiles properly.
Actress and singer Jane Birkin responded by asking Hermes to remove her name from one of its best-selling handbags.
Hermes said it had investigated those allegations and re-assured Birkin that it imposed the highest ethical standards for the treatment of crocodiles on its suppliers and was conducting monthly checks on them.
[Source:- Reauters]